The Legend Continues
by Jeffro73
Summary: After leaving the ruins that were all that was left of Dr. Nevilles house. Anna and Ethan set out to deliver the newly found cure to a survivors colony in Vermont. Along the way they encounter obstacles that threaten their mission and have them wondering if they can stay alive.


It was an unusually hot morning when Anna and Ethan left from what was left of Dr. Neville's home. Still somewhat distracted by the death of her friend Robert Neville, she drives out of the city the same way she drove in just the day before. Ethan was sleeping now. Anna wondered if he would even be able to, since the explosion in the basement put him in some sort of shock. An hour had passed and It felt as if it took forever to get out of the city. If only the roads were cleared of all the garbage and looted vehicles, it would have took her all of twenty minutes to get away from the city. Now on the more deserted back roads, they pushed on at a much better pace.

She was torn between the death of her friend and the potential for something good that awaited them. Distracted by Ethan twitching in his sleep, Anna noticed an old farm house off in the distance just outside the passenger window. Just then, she heard a loud boom and felt the steering wheel jerk in her hands. Almost just after the first boom, she heard another. This time the steering wheel became almost uncontrollable. Ethan screaming did not help the situation. Anna managed to maneuver the vehicle into a ditch, which was a victory in her mind, considering how easy she thought the vehicle could have flipped or something at the speed they were going. Ethan wasn't screaming anymore, but holding his neck now, he asked,

"Anna, what just happened? Is it the dark seekers?

"No, Ethan. I hit something on the road. Some metal garbage or something. I'm sorry. Is your neck okay?"

"It's fine. A little bit sore, that's all."

Anna exited her vehicle. Just as she was shutting the door, Ethan hurriedly try to ask,

"can I get out with…."

The door shut just before he could finish. Anna held up her hand and made eye contact through the windshield as to say hold on. She walked to the front of the SUV, which was now covered in waist high weeds, to survey the damage. Through the weeds and the dirt she could see that the tires were shredded. She expected as much, but was now focused on hiding the concern on her face when she spotted what apparently caused the two flat tires. The objects protruding from what was left of the ruptured tires looked homemade, almost welded or bent into a handcrafted sort of spike. She pulled one of the spikes from the rubber and stuck it in her pocket. She knew this was deliberate and almost immediately drew her handgun from the back of her waist band. She scanned the area around her and saw nothing. Knowing they couldn't stay on the side of the road, she motioned Ethan to exit the vehicle. She reached into the the back seat of the car and grabbed a backpack.

"Let's go, Ethan. We can't stay here."

"What is it, Anna?"

"I'll explain it later, but for right now, we have to go."

Ethan knew not to question Anna. She had kept him protected up until now and he trusted her.

She remembered the old farm house just before they left the road. Part of her thought that this was a bad idea, since someone had to of put those spikes on the road and this house was the only one she saw around. The maker of these spikes could be hiding and waiting to ambush them from this house. Anna was always thinking of the worst. It was natural for her to feel that way since her and Ethan had seen so many bad things since coming from Maryland. They continued on toward the house. Anna still had her gun drawn. She wasn't about to put her guard down now.

"Stay by my side, Ethan."

"K" Ethan said, visibly shaken by Anna being on alert.

Anna noticed a figure in one of the windows upstairs. She was having a hard time making out what this figure was doing, but it appeared they were motioning her and Ethan toward the house, almost to tell them to hurry up. Just then, Anna noticed it was a woman and she was now pointing in the direction past them toward the vehicle. Anna took a quick look behind her and realized there were four men sprinting toward them. At least two of them appeared to have hand guns pointing at them. It was confirmed when she heard the shots from behind them. She could see where the bullets were hitting the dirt just in front of them. Anna realized she was pulling away from Ethan and had to slow down to grab his hand.

"Over here!" A male voice now yelled.

She now sees the man with the front door open, but realizes he is lifting a rifle seemingly right at her and Ethan. They duck behind an old beat up, rusty tractor.

POW….POW….POW!

One of the men chasing them falls like a ton of bricks. He doesn't get up. Anna peeks beyond the huge rear wheel of the tractor to see the woman in the window also firing several shots at the men still charging toward them. Another man falls. This time, one of the two remaining men stop to pick up the gun and immediately start firing toward the house. The men appear to have no regard for their own lives and were easily picked off on the open ground just before the farm house. Anna couldn't understand why they were just trying to kill them. Her way of thinking has always been, there aren't a lot of survivors left, so why not try to co-exist with each other. Again, Anna hears a male voice coming from the house.

"Hey, Lady, over here. It's all clear now."

"How do i know I can trust you?" She yells back.

"Well, I suppose you don't know, but i guess if i wanted you dead I could have picked you off before those men that were chasing you."

Anna, looked over at Ethan.

"What do you think, kiddo?" Anna asked, even though she had her mind made up already.

Ethan just shook his head yes. He was just thankful that the two people from the house stopped the men from getting them, even if they didn't know why they were out to get both approached the house cautiously. By then, the woman from the upstairs window made her way downstairs and onto the porch where she met Anna and Ethan.

"Hi, I'm Anna. This is Ethan."

Ethan just kind of nodded at them. Having been through too much the last twelve or so hours, he was still trying to take everything in.

"Does this belong to you?"

Anna pulled the spike from her pocket and held it up to the Man now standing on the porch.

"No, this was not from me. I'm guessing this belonged to them." As he pointed to the deceased men lying in the yard.

Anna paused for a moment, wanting to believe the man.

"I'm Simon and this is Leah.."

"Nice to meet you both." Leah said as she knelt down to shake Ethan's hand.

Leah could see that the events leading up until now had been pretty stressful on the boy.

"We have a safe place here. We are good people." Said Simon as he turned and looked at Anna.

"Is it just you two in this house?"

'Yes, Leah and I have been here for over a year now and we've had to deal with people like that on quite a few occasions. They want what we have. Shelter and food. They become desperate and tend to have a kill or be killed attitude around here."

"I've noticed." Anna said as she took a look back at the four bodies laid scattered in the field.

"I really want to thank you both. You saved us."

"Come on in. We can whip you both up something to eat."

"We would love that. Our food is in the vehicle except for some beef jerky and water in my backpack."

Anna didn't want to tell them what else was in there. Not yet anyway. She was still trying to feel them out. The possible cure was too precious to let them in on just yet. They all stepped into the house, Simon and Leah leading the way. Anna and Ethan just looked around in amazement. The inside of the house was set up like a small fortress. A lot less homely than Dr. Neville's house was. Around the base of the windows there were sand bags and the doors were reinforced with heavy steel. Anna knocked on the door as she walked in as if somehow to test the strength of it.

"It's a lot nicer upstairs."

Leah noticed that they were surveying the interior.

"We have bars on the windows upstairs also. It's not fort knox, but it will hold them back as long as it takes to shoot them."

"Hold them back?"

"Yeah, the dark seekers"

"You have dark seekers out this far from the city?"

"We've seen them a time or two."

It was now late afternoon. Everyone full from the meal Leah had prepared for them. Simon and Leah were amazed at what Anna and Ethan had been through with Dr. Robert Neville. Soon after telling their story and about the possible cure that they possess, Anna and Ethan even managed to feel comfortable enough to take a much needed nap afterward.

"We need to grab the supplies from your vehicle." Simon explained to Anna.

"If anyone else comes along, they will strip that car to nothing, so we need to go before it gets dark."

"I agree."

Anna and Simon set out to retrieve the supplies in the vehicle, but first Simon went to a nearby shed and pulled a wagon from the open door. Anna thought it was a great idea since even with the wagon, it would probably take them at least a couple of trips. When they arrived at the vehicle, Simon noticed the smell of gas.

"Maybe one of those spikes punctured the tank."

"Yeah, that's definitely possible."

Just then Simon noticed a small leak dribbling down the side of the vehicle. Looking up on top of the cargo rack, they noticed the leak coming from one of the cans of gasoline. A couple of small holes near the bottom of the plastic five gallon container were easy to spot. The gas was almost all gone, except for the small amount below the holes. There were a lot of small dents and dings. It kind of looked like someone had peppered them with shotgun pellets. Anna looked as if she figured out how they got there.

"The vehicle was parked down the road and there was a lot of debris on the hood when we left that morning. I remembered smelling gas, but figured it was from the other vehicles that got caught in the explosion. We probably dripped gas the whole way here."

Simon looked up at the gas container and then down the road in the direction that they drove from, with a somewhat concerned look on his face.

"Well, let's get this stuff loaded and get back up to the house."

With the sun now setting on the horizon, Simon and Leah just finished up showing Anna how they lock the house down. She couldn't help thinking that it felt even more secure than she thought it would. They all went their separate ways and settled in for the night. Anna noticed a couple of old broken down vehicles out of the upstairs bedroom window earlier. She thought of going out first thing in the morning and seeing if she could find two tires decent enough to get them moving down the road. She was excited about being able to get to Vermont. Simon and Leah also sounded as if they would go with them to the survivors colony. All these positive thoughts put Anna at ease and she quickly fell asleep..

Anna was asleep for about five hours when she was awakened by a loud boom. A gunshot. Then another. She looked over to see Ethan spring out of bed.

"Ethan, get under the bed. Stay there until I come back for you. I need to see what's going on."

"Don't leave me Anna!"

"Just until I see what's going on. I will be back."

Anna rushed down the stairs to see Simon standing over one of the dark seekers. With his rifle drawn on him.

"He's dead, don't worry."

"How the hell did he get in here?"

"They tore through the wall in the kitchen. They couldn't get through the door so they found another way."

"Where is Leah?" Anna said with a concerned voice.

"She's gone!"

"What do you mean, gone?"

"Look out there?"

Anna approached the window cautiously and peered out between the bars at what was left of Leah. She was literally being drug away in pieces. Anna gagged at what she was witnessing. Her disgust quickly turned to anger and she drew her pistol from her waist. As she took a couple of shots at the fleeing savages, she realized that it was pointless. They were long gone and well out of range now. Simon took off towards the door and she grabbed his arm.

"Wait, Simon. You can't go out there. We don't know how many there are."

"There was three of them. I watched them running up the road toward your vehicle."

He pulls a little night vision rangefinder from his pocket.

"I watched them coming down the road. It was the gas. They followed the smell of gas right to your car."

Anna remembered she left Ethan upstairs and rushed up there to get him. She grabbed him and told him he needed to be quiet. They both headed toward the stairs going down into the living area. She couldn't help but notice that Simon was no longer where he was when she went upstairs.

"Anna! Look, out in the yard."

Anna turned to see one of the dark seekers biting down on Simon's neck. Blood pouring out. He is barely alive. Anna gets off a couple of shots and manages to hit the creature, killing it. Simon is no longer moving. He is dead. Anna felt tremendous guilt for having lead the dark seekers right to them. If Simon was right, there is still one left. She soon finds out that the remaining monster is in the house with them. She can hear it tearing through the upstairs, apparently searching for them. With Ethan behind her she aims her gun toward the stairs. Her hand shaking. Just then, the lone dark seeker jumps down the stairs, missing every step on the way down. Anna quickly fires several shots at the scary figure, hitting him in the head and neck. He thrashes around just feet from them. Giving off a horrific roar. He lunges forward, just far enough to grab Ethan's leg. The frightened boy lets out a scream of his own.

"Anna!"

Anna puts two more rounds into the wailing doesn't take long before he takes his last breath, still clinching onto Ethan's leg. Anna takes a deep breath too.

"It's okay. We're gonna be okay."

After the exhausting events they both just went through, Anna and Ethan hide out in a closet for the rest of the night. It was already early morning. Soon, the sun peeked over the horizon. As soon as they were able, they made their way out to the barn where they found the tools Simon had told them about. The two teamed up and made quick work of removing the tires from the abandoned vehicle and putting them on theirs. As soon as they were loaded up with all the supplies they could carry, Anna and Ethan were soon on their way to Vermont, not knowing what else awaited them. With the cure still safely in their possession, they set out on the remaining part of their journey. Anna looked at Ethan.

"You did good back there."

"You too, Anna. Dr. Neville would be proud of you."

Anna smiled and looked ahead, down the long road.

"Lets go change the world."


End file.
